Posterior cerebral artery blood flow response to visual stimulation during exercise

Abstract

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) in the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) with visual stimulation during aerobic exercise at 70% of the maximal heart rate was reported to be maintained (Willie et al., 2011), but the effect of exercise intensity on NVC is still unknown. To investigate this effect, we measured the blood flow velocity in the PCA (PCAv) by transcranial Doppler ultrasound flowmetry during rest and exercise while fourteen healthy males performed a leg‐cycle exercise under mild, moderate, and heavy intensity conditions (120, 140, and 160 bpm of the heart rate, respectively). We estimated the NVC as the relative change in PCAv from eye‐closing to each two types of 40‐s visual stimuli such as eye‐opening and looking at a reversed checkerboard. Under the three exercise conditions, PCAv significantly increased from the baseline. Both visual stimuli significantly increased PCAv compared with eye‐closing at all conditions. The relative change in PCAv on reversed checkerboard stimulation was significantly lower under the moderate than the other intensity conditions. It was suggested that NVC in PCA in response to visual stimulation is affected by the exercise intensity.